Best Sandwich - Best of Lawrence: 2013 - Food

The Yello Sub at 1834 W. 23rd has hosted a variety of subs for years in Lawrence. From left, KU student Conor Bray digs in on a veggie grinder as Damon Res enjoys a foot-long Yello Sub. Richard Gwin/Journal World Photo

The Lawrence sub shop has been open in various locations since the late ’70s and remains a local staple while competing with large national chains such as Jimmy John’s, Subway and Quiznos.

Co-owner Donny Keen said that two things keep the joint going: thick homemade sandwiches and quirk.

“We slice our stuff and still use real meat. Not any turkey-based products,” he says. “As far as health goes, it might not be the healthiest, but it’s real food.”

For those wanting something a tad healthier than the best-selling Yello Sub — four kinds of meat, Swiss cheese and all the fixings — the restaurant has a robust veggie menu featuring 14 different sandwiches.

Keen describes Yello Sub as a laid-back

Lawrence joint, not some corporate place with clean white walls. Indeed, most of the inside of the restaurant is painted to resemble a cartoonish ocean scene, playing off the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine,” from which the restaurant derives its name. Huge tropical fish watch hungry diners in an aquarium built into the wall.

Customers hold playing cards while waiting on their sandwiches to be completed. When your card is called, the order is done, and a hefty homemade sandwich is ready to be devoured.

“You spend a little more money here, but what ends up between the buns, there is something there,” Keen says. “If you’re a starving student and need a filler, there you are.”

Ian Stepp remembers visiting his aunt’s house as a kid, where he’d play classic games like Duck Hunt and iterations of the Mario Brothers saga on the family’s trusty old Nintendo Entertainment System.
Now pushing 30, Stepp is still a fan of the now-classic video games that in recent years have spawned a thriving culture and industry capitalizing on the nostalgia of grownups who coveted Nintendo game systems as kids in the 1980s and 90s.